Neil Hamilton (actor)
| Neil Hamilton | |
|---|---|
Press photo of Hamilton (year unknown)
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| Born |
September 9, 1899 Lynn, Massachusetts, U.S. |
| Died | September 24, 1984 (aged 85) Escondido, California, U.S. |
| Cause of death | Asthma |
| Nationality | American |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 1918–1971 |
| Spouse(s) | Elsa Whitmer (m. 1922–1984; his death); 1 child |
James Neil Hamilton (September 9, 1899 – September 24, 1984) was an American actor probably best known for his role as Commissioner Gordon on the Batman TV series of the 1960s.
An only child, Hamilton was born in Lynn, Massachusetts. His show business career began when he secured a job as a shirt model in magazine ads, similar to fellow silent film performer Reed Howes, who was known in advertisements as "The Arrow Collar Man".
After this, he became interested in acting and joined several stock companies. This allowed him to secure his first film role in 1918 in Vitagraph's The Beloved Impostor, but he got his big break from D. W. Griffith in The White Rose (1923). In 1924, he traveled to Germany with Griffith and made a film about the incredibly harsh living conditions in post-World War I Germany, Isn't Life Wonderful.
While filming America in 1924, a soldier's arm was blown off. As fellow actor Charles Emmett Mack recalls, "Neil Hamilton and I went to neighboring towns and raised a fund for him—I doing a song and dance and Neil collecting a coin."
Hamilton was signed by Paramount Pictures in the mid-1920s and became one of their leading men. He often appeared opposite star Bebe Daniels. In 1926, he played one of Ronald Colman's brothers in Paramount's original silent version of Beau Geste. In 1926, Hamilton played Nick Carraway in the first production of The Great Gatsby, a now lost film. He starred in John Ford's Mother Machree with Victor McLaglen, and with John Wayne in an early bit role before he was well known, the title of which would coincidentally become sidekick Chief O'Hara's catchphrase in the Batman television show nearly four decades later. He was steadily employed in supporting roles, and worked for just about every studio in Hollywood.
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